Learn Finnishat the Beverly Hills Lingual Institute

Did you know?

Finland has the largest number of islands of any country in the world (almost 180,000).

Hei! In addition to being the official language of Finland, Finnish is also one of the official languages of the European Union, one of the working languages of the Nordic Council, and is spoken in Sweden, Norway, Russia and the Republic of Karelia. More than six million people worldwide speak Finnish.

Your best choice to learn Finnish in Los Angeles is the Beverly Hills Lingual Institute. Our faculty and courses are proven, effective, and extremely popular with residents of the Los Angeles area.

Meet Your Finnish Teachers

Emmi

Finnish teacher
@ BH Lingual

The best part about living in Los Angeles is...
Without a doubt, the diversity of cultures, nationalities, and languages, and the opportunities that rise from such cultural richness. It feels as though the whole world is represented here.

Recommend a place to visit where Finnish is the native language, and tell us why you like it.
The only place in the world where Finnish is spoken as the native language is Finland. So if you want to fully immerse yourself in Finnish, you'll have to travel to Finland! The capital of Helsinki is a wonderful city to start your Finnish experience with: it's an international city, but its distinctive culture, nature, architecture, culinary scene, and relaxed atmosphere make it a profoundly Finnish place. But be warned; Finns speak excellent English and switching to it comes naturally to them, so you will have to tell them that you would prefer to get the full Finnish language treatment!

What Finnish film or musical artist do you recommend students watch or listen to?
I would recommend the movies by the Finnish auteur/ filmmaker, Aki Kaurismäki. His films are quirky and minimalistic, funny and humane, and quintessentially Finnish. His latest film, 'The Other Side of Hope' (2016), not only takes place in Helsinki, but also is painfully and beautifully current because of its subject matter.

What most surprises your students about Finnish?
Finnish is unique in that it bears very little resemblance to its Indo-European neighbor-languages, and therefore it may come as a surprise to the students that it really does take an extra amount of dedication to dive into the language. In essence, the student will have to adapt a new way of thinking about language because of its grammar structures: Finnish has no grammatical gender and has only gender-neutral pronouns (one word for she/he), and the seemingly endless inflection of nouns, verbs, adjectives, pronouns, and numerals may take some time to get used to. Finnish is certainly not an easy language, but that is what also makes it all the more rewarding; you'll be in a special club of around 5 million people who can converse in Finnish, and the Finns will love you doubly more for embracing their idiosyncratic language.

What one thing would you like your students to know about you?
I'm a native Finn, but I have a long history of learning languages myself, from English to Japanese, and from Swedish to German, so I know the intricacies and tricks of getting into the mindset of learning a challenging language.

Learn Finnish in Los Angeles

The Beverly Hills Lingual Institute is the premier Finnish language school in Los Angeles, fostering a dedicated student body and a rich, supportive atmosphere for learning Finnish.

We offer Finnish classes for all levels of students, and take pride in providing L.A.'s premier Finnish instruction, with highly educated, native-speaking Finnish teachers and university texts.

Finnish language tutors are also available for private instruction and corporate programs.

Schedule | Finnish Language Classes

We offer a comprehensive schedule of Finnish language classes in Los Angeles. The classes scheduled reflect our current students' needs and the anticipated requirements of new students.

Spring II 2020

05/02/2020
-
06/29/2020

All regularly scheduled courses run for one term (eight weeks), one day (80 minutes) per week.

Each course is limited to 10 students.

If your level and preferred time is not shown, please call. We often add Beginner's classes after the schedule is published in order to accommodate demand.

Private Finnish Classes

We offer semi-private Finnish classes or private Finnish lessons for any level of Finnish.

Some students prefer private lessons instead of a scheduled class, or occasionally take private classes to augment their existing, scheduled group course.

Private classes are more flexible than Group classes. They are tailored to specific learning and scheduling needs. They can be useful if a student's language knowledge is uneven, if a more intensified study program is needed, or if privacy is a concern.

With our large staff of native speakers, we can schedule private lessons in most languages.

Private lessons are available in packages of eight, 80-minute sessions; or, if you are enrolled in a group class, your private lesson can be scheduled individually

Summer 2020

07/06/2020
-
08/29/2020

All regularly scheduled courses run for one term (eight weeks), one day (80 minutes) per week.

Each course is limited to 10 students.

If your level and preferred time is not shown, please call. We often add Beginner's classes after the schedule is published in order to accommodate demand.

Private Finnish Classes

We offer semi-private Finnish classes or private Finnish lessons for any level of Finnish.

Some students prefer private lessons instead of a scheduled class, or occasionally take private classes to augment their existing, scheduled group course.

Private classes are more flexible than Group classes. They are tailored to specific learning and scheduling needs. They can be useful if a student's language knowledge is uneven, if a more intensified study program is needed, or if privacy is a concern.

With our large staff of native speakers, we can schedule private lessons in most languages.

Private lessons are available in packages of eight, 80-minute sessions; or, if you are enrolled in a group class, your private lesson can be scheduled individually

Learning a language can change your life.

Knowing how to say at least a few words in another language will break the ice at any business meeting, and will certainly make your vacation more pleasant.

You may also want to get in touch with your heritage by learning some of the language that your ancestors spoke. Language is a particularly good bridge in this regard, as it can often be a guide to the ways in which different cultures express not only ideas, but emotions. By exposing you to every aspect of the human condition, language allows you to study the past, understand the present, and ponder the future.

The Beverly Hills Lingual Institute invites you to learn Finnish at our award-winning school, where we are proud to offer Finnish and more than 35 other languages.

Our language school hires and retains exceptional Finnish teachers, eager to share their knowledge and love for their native land and the Finnish language.

Read what our students say about us - and come experience the best Finnish courses in Los Angeles.

Why a Classroom Instead of an App?

Clearly there are those who have been successful using apps.

However, we have found that most students who are serious about learning Finnish do better in a classroom setting with native-speaking teachers, using college-level texts.

Languages are about far more than tedious grammar rules and arcane vocabulary.

Languages are about people.

American journalist Flora Lewis once said, "Learning another language is not only learning different words for the same things, but learning another way to think about things."

As such, learning a language requires context, cultural and otherwise, which, we would submit, a native speaker is best equipped to provide.

The best way to discover a new language is to immerse yourself in it. Listen to the way it sounds, concentrate on the pronunciation, and look at how it is written. Above all, speak it. By listening and repeating, you'll enter a new world of ideas and peoples. A word spoken between ten and 20 times is remembered more readily than a word seen 50 to one hundred times.

Being surrounded by others who are interested in the Finnish language and culture will reinforce your interest and motivation. Learning together, with shared commitment, creates a pleasant and exciting education experience. As we're often told, acquiring a language through immersion really does feel like magic!

Research has shown time and time again that motivation and the establishment of clear goals at the outset are the keys to a learner's progress.

Regularly scheduled Finnish classes

Accountability from your teacher and the class

Individual attention to your learning style

Interaction with teacher and classmates

Continuity of teaching method at all levels

Stay with your classmates as you progress

More About Finnish

Language Classes at the Beverly Hills Lingual Institute

The Beverly Hills Lingual Institute offers the most comprehensive selection of language classes in the Los Angeles area.

Classes are held at our facility located at 8383 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 250 in Beverly Hills, California.

Most of our 80-minute classes are scheduled during the evening with the first session running from 6:00 to 7:20 pm, and the second session running from 7:35 to 8:55 pm.

Some classes are also offered during the day. See the schedule for a complete list of all classes.

We all speak one.Some of us speak several.A few of us know dozens.

Languages are a staple of everyday life, a necessity for getting by in the world and communicating with each other. They can help you get jobs, help you enjoy another country and culture - and even get you out of trouble.

Choose a language and begin to enjoy the extraordinary benefit of being bilingual or multilingual.

Private Classes

Some students prefer private lessons instead of a scheduled class, or occasionally take private classes to augment their existing, scheduled group course.

Private classes are more flexible than Group classes. They are tailored to specific learning and scheduling needs. They can be useful if a student's language knowledge is uneven, if a more intensified study program is needed, or if privacy is a concern.

With our large staff of native speakers, we can schedule private lessons in most languages.

Private lessons are available in packages of eight, 80-minute sessions; or, if you are enrolled in a group class, your private lesson can be scheduled individually.

Alternative Programs

The majority of our scheduled language classes are designed for adult students who want to learn another language. We also offer the following alternative programs.

English | Accent Reduction

Classes evaluate the student's problem areas and focus on exercises designed to target and remedy those areas. Our Accent Reduction course focuses on pronunciation, stress, enunciation, diction, tonality, musicality, syntax, and articulation, through vowel and consonant exercises, work chants, tongue twisters, and readings. Individual attention is given to each student's area of difficulty.

English | Native Speaker

These classes are for those who grew up speaking English but want to improve and refine their English. Designed to give you the critical edge in English communication, they target grammar, spelling, and pronunciation.

Little Linguals

Designed for children aged 6 – 11, our "Little Lingual" classes meet once a week during the afternoon for one hour. Class content includes Alphabet, Songs, Games, Practical Words and Phrases, and Basic Dialogue. Children aged 12 and above can join our regularly scheduled adult classes.

These exciting classes are geared to get an early start on language learning while helping children enjoy and appreciate a different culture. This is the best time for them to learn a foreign language. The younger the learner, the better they are at mimicking new sounds and adopting pronunciation. The brain is open to new sounds and patterns in preadolescence.

Young children have the luxury of taking in a new language naturally. A child's brain is like a sponge, soaking up new vocabulary, sentence structure, words stress, pronunciation, and everything that makes up language quickly, easily - and, most importantly, without explicit grammatical instruction.

When you're an adult, learning a new language takes a bit more effort!

Young children have time to learn through play-like activities. Language lessons can be informal. Children's minds are not yet cluttered with facts to be stored and tested. Before children become self-conscious, they can try out their newly acquired languages without fear of embarrassment.

Children who grow up learning about languages develop empathy for others and a curiosity for different cultures and ideas. They're better prepared to take their place in a global society. In later years, career opportunities increase for those with additional languages to offer.

Studies by Harvard University confirm that learning additional languages increases critical thinking skills, creativity and flexibility of the mind in young children. Moreover, pupils who learn a foreign language outscore their non-foreign-language-learning peers in standardized verbal and math tests, indicating that learning additional language is a cognitive - and not just linguistic - activity. The brain, like any muscle, functions better with exercise. Learning a language involves memorizing rules and vocabulary, which helps strengthen that mental muscle.

Travel Classes

Our Travel Classes are designed for those who are planning a trip and want to get more out of their travel experience. These classes are held twice a week for one month. They are language classes focused on travel conversation, pronunciation, and culture.

Translating and Interpreting

With a roster of over eighty native-speaking teachers in over 30 different languages, the Beverly Hills Lingual Institute has the expertise to address many translating and interpreting challenges. This is a highly customized service. Please contact us to discuss your translating or interpreting requirements.